Deadline: June 30, 2026
Nominations are invited for the TWAS-Abdool Karim Award in Biological Sciences 2026. This award, named after TWAS President Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim, is designed to honour women scientists in Least Developed African countries for their achievements in Biological Sciences.
TWAS is inviting nominations for the 2026 Award from all its members as well as science academies, national research councils, universities and scientific institutions in developing and developed countries.
Award
- A cash award of USD5,000 generously provided by Professor Abdool Karim is given to the awardee.
Eligibility
- The award recognizes women scientists for their achievements in Biological Sciences.
- Eligible nominees for the 2026 award are female scientists not older than 45 years of age nationals of a Least Developed African country who have been living and working there for at least two years immediately prior to their nomination.
- Fellows of TWAS are not eligible
- Individuals who have previously won a TWAS-named Award are not eligible to be nominated for Awards named after a different TWAS Fellow.
- Self nominations and nominations from jury members will not be considered.
- The same nominee cannot be nominated for more than one ‘Fellows of TWAS Awards’ in a given year. The secretariat retains the right to bring to the attention of the relevant nominators that the nomination may be suitable for another award, and the final decision whether or not to shift the nomination will be taken by the nominators themselves.
Nomination
A nomination is considered complete only if includes all of the following information/material:
- Nominator contact details;
- Nominee contact details (self nominations and nominations from jury members are not accepted) and general information on the nominee, including the country where she has been working and living in the past 2 years;
- Authorization from the nominee (i.e. the candidate) to process her personal data for the purposes of her nomination, in conformity to Art. 13 of the Italian Legislative Decree 196/2003. This authorization can only be submitted through the online platform. The privacy authorization form is available for download in the section ‘nominee’s personal data’. The form must be filled in and signed by the candidate and then uploaded onto the on-line platform;
- Suggested citation (15-20 words highlighting the nominee’s scientific achievements in Biological Sciences);
- Supporting statement regarding the nominee’s contribution in Biological Sciences. Supporting statements should explain in detail the work performed by the candidate and its significance in the relevant scientific context. Clear reference should be made to the scientific impact of the nominee’s work. Vague supporting statements will not be considered and will negatively affect the evaluation. (max 10,000 characters);
- Forward-looking project outlining the candidate planned future activities (max 10,000 characters);
- Clear and detailed account of any time spent abroad by the nominee in the past two years;
- PhD: information on subject area, year and awarding institution;
- Brief information on membership in academies and societies;
- Brief information on awards and honours received;
- List of 10 most significant publications listed in an internationally acceptable format;
- The nominee’s brief CV (max 20,000 characters);
- The nominee’s complete list of publications are also to be uploaded, separately, onto the online platform;
- The nominee’s h-index in Google Scholar and the associated number of citations.
For more information, visit TWAS-Abdool Karim Award.
